


stop for the wind

by sade12



Category: The Walking Dead (Video Games)
Genre: Bonding, Fun Times In The Forest, M/M, woop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-14
Updated: 2016-09-14
Packaged: 2018-08-14 23:32:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8033284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sade12/pseuds/sade12
Summary: ben and lee go on a hunting trip





	stop for the wind

**Author's Note:**

> wow i... i have no explanation for this  
> theres like no content for ben and lee and i got super sad about that like... i feel like there's somethin to be made here soooo i started tossing around some ideas and then i came up w/ this aieee  
> sue me it sounded like a cute idea: rly friendly lee and rly soft ben. a match made in heaven  
> hope yall dig it, muah  
> (btw interpret that ending however u want)

Anything’s better than nothing.

Or, in this case, anyone is better than no one at all.

Hunting alone was stressful. While it did have its granted pros, its cons outweighed them most of the time- negatives such as being helpless if you needed aid were at large. The woods had unpredictability as thick as the trees, so a buddy was the most optimal thing one could take when on the lookout for game, alongside a gun or two.

Though it was considerably smarter to keep quiet, it was also a good time for conversation and a well time to learn anything about someone who wasn’t readily an open book. While the possibilities were nearly endless, choosing a good person came as a foremost priority. It always seemed easy enough, until it had to be done.

The woods parallel to the motel were damp and deep with a light near-august rain, and they looked strangely inviting. As usual, the food supply was dwindling on a tight lifeline and Lilly kept on top of it; micromanaging as usual, though there wasn’t much that the local wildlife could provide and all the stores in the towns nearby had been ransacked to hell and back. Game was harder and harder to find and the birds and deer almost felt smaller whenever they were brought back.

Despite all the shortcomings, Lee still thought it’d be worth his time to try. It was in everyone’s best interest.

It’d become rather late and most of the group was starting to fade off into sleeping, save Mark and Larry bickering about the fence’s status and the probability of walkers overcoming it, Kenny talking to Katjaa, Carley looking around for scraps or anything of use, Lilly sitting atop the RV- despite the fact her eyes were slowly lulling closed- and... Ben.

Every time Lee looked at Ben, he felt an overwhelming surge of sympathy. He’d always sit in some far corner of the parking lot by himself, head against his knees and wrapped in his arms as if he was sleeping when, in reality, he was normally sulking. He was the recipient of most of the complaints at the motel, and he wasn’t allowed to defend himself lest he be threatened more. Not to mention how thin and debilitated he’d look whenever he took his letterman off; he almost was never given rations and could only stand properly on a good day. Through and through, Lee just felt bad.

He was just a kid, respectively. Blanched skin, a very minuscule- almost nonexistent- driving personality to give him any sort of charm, and a tired kind of look on his face. He either looked sad or tired. That was really it, and even he acknowledged it.

Their relationship was tricky. While Ben felt like Lee was the only person that actually valued him as a human being, he never took up the initiative to start a conversation. Lee chalked it up to him being afraid of being turned away.

In totality, Ben was relatively harmless. However, if someone showed him the ropes, that could easily change.

“I don’t- Lee- Why me?”

It was becoming surprisingly late very quickly. The orange-red of the sunset began to melt into shades of blue with the occasional star decorating the sky above the woods and above the world.

A shallow, transparent creek rippled lazily throughout the woods in an enigmatic, twisting sort of pattern almost guided by the thick lines of trees sporting a rainbow of warm-colored leaves. There was almost a trail made purely out of footsteps- a route Mark and Lee had walked down to look for game for what felt like ages- and Ben and the latter were descending it now. 

Though they walked on the exact same wavelength, Ben refused to make eye contact and his eyes always met his shoes whenever Lee turned his way to start conversation or point at a decent looking bird in a tree. 

“What do you mean, why you?”

“You know I’m bad at... Hunting and stuff. You should’ve taken someone else.”

“Huh,” Lee paused briefly, his breath making a gray cloud in the air. The temperature dropped lower the later it got. “Sounds like you don’t like hunting with me.”

The comment caught Ben off guard and his cheeks burned. “No, I do! I really do!” For the first time ever, he actually sounded _excited_ about something, but stopped and caught himself as quickly as the words left his mouth. “...I mean, you could’ve chosen a lot of other people, so... Yeah. That’s what I mean.”

“I can’t say I really like seeing you all by yourself half of the time, so, I thought this’d be good for you.”

“I’m not... I don’t- No. I don’t think so.” Ben giggled dryly. “But, I appreciate it. A lot.”

“There’s a few things that’re going to have to change, so I think now’s a-”

Ben stopped mid-stride, depressingly nigh empty game bag stagnating at his waist and letting his shoulders drop just slightly. He looked at Lee, his expression quickly shifting from happiness to concern. “What’s gonna change?”

“We, uh... We’re gonna have to leave the motel soon. Real soon.”

“What?”

Living venatic was proving fruitless and the woods were practically picked clean. Ben sounded and looked surprised, but Lee could tell he really wasn’t. If anything, he sounded happy under his breath.

“Not a lot of us are eating well anymore. And, man... Especially you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Your arms look like twigs, Ben! Come on.”

“I can... I can live like this. It’s alright. Things are better at the motel than they were at my school.”

Lee sighed and reached out to pat Ben’s shoulder, letting it linger there for a while. “Well, according to Kenny, things are gonna be better anywhere besides than that motel.”

For some reason, Ben felt his cheeks burn up again. He assumed it was from the cold. “Being stuck in that RV with...” Momentarily, he looked around as if they were being listened to. “You know, Lilly...? That’ll kill me.”

“She’s just on edge lately, you know? She doesn’t hate you.” Despite having had said that, Lee was having second thoughts about it next to immediately. Most of the group did see him as an unreasonable mouth to feed, and Lilly was a prime example of such. Ben wasn’t even half as paranoid as she had the tendency to be. 

“Wh-! She threw a chair at me!” 

Ben sounded angry, but he couldn’t keep down the smile his lips curved into. It felt refreshing to have someone to actually talk to and joke with for once.

“Yeah? She tried to run me over once.”

“No way!”

“Way. It happened a while before you showed up, right? So I was-”

He was about to continue his thought, but something more captivating caught his attention. Ben noticed his silence, and his smile began to slip. 

“What?”

“Hold on.”

The statement didn’t land with Ben correctly. “What? What is it?”

It became unsettlingly quiet in a moment’s notice, almost in a deafening sort of way. Cool wind blew across his frame as Ben turned his head slightly enough to see a buck standing just a yard away from him eating some grass.

Neither moved. The sight felt oddly tranquil and decadent, almost like the cold reality of the world had faded away just for that one single moment in time. Reality smacked back in as fast as it flew out, and in a low voice, Lee whispered for his counterpart to shoot.

Almost instantly, Ben’s upper body seized still and he nearly dropped his rifle. His voice became a reduced stutter, “Wha- What?”

“You need practice.” Lee’s eyebrows furrowed and he made a hand gesture towards the buck, but kept movement minimal. “You have to shoot it, Ben. Okay? You got that?”

Lines of sweat started to trace down Ben’s forehead. It was a complete polar shift from how he’d been just two minutes ago; he stared at the buck as if it was about to bring his demise.

This, to no surprise, wasn’t the first time Lee had seen Ben _panicked._ He’d have nervous episodes whenever Lilly accused him of stealing or tampering with the resources or he was left on his own during a scavenge or he was given a large responsibility; he’d simply crack under the pressure and start acting impulsively. Lee could see his hands shaking as he attempted to hold the rifle properly. 

His voice seemed to become more distant and hurried as he tried to respond. “Wh- Oh, oh God. I’m gonna fuck it up.” The buck hadn’t noticed him quite yet. “I’m- Oh, fuck. I don’t think I can do this. I, I don’t-”

“Try and aim for the head. You can do it.”

He tried carefully to get into a marksman’s stance, attempting to mimic what he’d seen Kenny do before and Lee do earlier, but failed miserably and kept losing his grip on the rifle. Ben turned his head back, and he looked as if he was about to cry. “Nh- Nuh-uh. Can’t d-do it. I’m can’t- I- I can’t do it.”

Lee’s voice was suppressed, but all the same pushing urgency. “Calm down, Ben. Shoot it.”

Out of the blue, Ben’s voice tore through the silence like a cannon going off. He shrieked as loud as his lungs could bear; _“I am calm!”_

That did it. The buck cocked its head up and stared in grave alarm at the two, before quickly sprinting off to the right. Though Lee was initially taken aback by the ferocity and volume of the other’s voice, he took to his arm almost as fast and attempted to shoot- missing its head, but rather hitting its ankle. 

Lee skid over to it and took it out as fast as he could, before sighing in relief and muttering under his breath. He dropped to his knees and opened his game bag, before hearing sniffling from behind him. 

A look over his shoulder provided a view of Ben, standing stock-still and looking absolutely petrified.

“Sh- So- Sorry. I’m sorry.”

Lee looked sympathetic, but kept his composure. “It’s alright. Come over here and help me with this.”

Despite what he was asked, Ben wanted to stay rooted to the ground. He wanted to stay here in the woods and inevitably rot. All this did in his mind was prove to Lee- the only person he thought liked him, genuinely liked him- how debilitated he really was. Little by little, he made his way over to the game, but it felt as if he was tiptoeing through a minefield.

“I’m sorry. I- I’m sorry. I’m sorry I couldn’t do it.” 

“I know, I know. Everybody makes mistakes.”

What could he say? His thoughts? How he felt? Ben didn’t answer. He can’t, and he knew all he’d say is more fractured apologies and other things he knew damn well Lee wouldn’t want to hear.

Rather, he warily knelt down next to his counterpart and stared deeply into the downed buck, antlers, fur, and gaping bullet wound in all. He kept quiet for a moment, making sure his rifle was strapped to him securely enough just watching Lee make sure if it was dead or otherwise. “So... I- How’re we getting it back?”

“We’re gonna carry it back.” Lee’s face let the sky, and he was held witness to a myriad of fading clouds, stars, and a deep quickly blackening sky. “I’d cut it up here, but we shouldn’t be out this late. You hold that end.”

The night was turning and the air was already growing colder. It was only descending slowly into mid-autumn, but Ben still found himself flipping up his hood and shivering as he stood. He’d lost the confidence to look at Lee, though he didn’t seem to mind.

Lee slid the head and upper body of the buck up and off the ground without difficulty, while Ben nearly dropped his half the second he caught a grasp of it in both hands. He let out a yelp, before drawing back and clenching his left arm. The south side of the buck made an impressively loud thwack sound upon making contact with the fallen leaves.

To Lee, this was a cause of concern. “You alright, man?” 

Ben, choking through pain and fighting the urge to give up, could do nothing but struggle to regain his footage and force a weak smile. “Yeah!” He stared down at his arms in defeat; he was much, much thinner than he thought he was. Lee was right.

Despite his response, the other wasn’t convinced. “Maybe I should take care of it. I’ll drag it, you should just... How about you keep watch while we walk?”

Something snapped inside of Ben in that moment. But instead of crying out like earlier, his face lost all emotion and he found himself unable to do anything aside from stare at Lee. 

His lips parted on their own. “Okay.”

The walk back was slow, seemed to drag on and on for hours and was cram stocked with almost deathly silence. Though the scenery was lovely enough on its own; shaded trees and fireflies going this way and that, the simple fear of the unknown was strenuous as anything. Despite it all, the woods were thorough, dark, and deep that every single light in the distance was mistaken for the motel.

Ben found himself numb for the walk. He stared off ahead into the horizon as if there was something of interest out there, mumbling to himself lightly. As much as the desire to say something picked at him, he couldn’t build up the courage. He didn’t question Lee, and Lee didn’t question him. That was that.

Except, he still blurt out words.

“I- I’m sorry I’m such a... problem.”

Something about that, for a fraction of a second, caught Lee completely off guard. The dragging sound below them ceased, and he turned to face his blue-clad counterpart who had the most sheepish, forced smile that Lee had ever seen.

A glint of dry concern had sparked up in Lee’s eyes as he studied the smaller, wavering figure; he just didn’t come off as well, mentally or physically. It wasn’t like he’d not noticed those things about him before and was only now catching onto them, it was just only now that he had the time to actually care and deepen his understanding of someone he, in truth, knew absolutely nothing about. Ben was always Ben.

“What does that mean?”

“What do you mean?”

“You said you were a problem?”

“Well, I mean...” Ben choked a little on his words. He was hit by waves of regret for even speaking up, but continued his thought. “I’m a problem... You know? I don’t... I can’t do anything. I’d go back to the school, but-”

“Come on, man. You know you’re not a problem.”

“I am, though! I really am!”

“I think the only problem you have is that you take the blame for things that aren’t your fault.”

Ben prepared to counter, but he stopped almost instantly and his expression contorted. He never exactly displayed a vast range of emotions, but Lee was shown an expression completely different: Surprise. Genuine surprise.

“Huh?”

“I can’t think of anyone who takes the fall as much as you, Ben. Think about it.” Lee let out a deep sigh all the way from his core then, his voice oddly subdued. It was different, as opposed to his normal projected leaderly sort of voice. “You can’t help that you get nervous, you can’t help that you can’t pick up heavy things. I mean, hell, man, you don’t eat.”

“That’s why I’m a problem, though.”

“You’re not a problem.” 

“But I-!”

“Listen, if you’re a problem, you’re a problem I don’t mind. You’re a good kid, okay? I’ll say it as many times as I need to for it to stick.” 

The words hit like nothing ever before. Ben’s eyes widened and he couldn’t help the remote gasping expression that glued to his face; he sat like that for what felt like ages. He drew in a hitched breath and faltered over every single word he couldn’t starve down, feeling his cheeks burn up again. Deep down, he knew he didn’t deserve a compliment that nice, but it felt _good._

“S-seriously...?”

“Of course.”

It took a moment to really sink in. Almost instinctively, Ben covered his mouth with his hand. It was hard to conceal his own blushing. “Wow, I... Y’know... Oh, _man._ Thanks, Lee.”

“What’s got you so happy, huh?” Releasing a hand from an antler, Lee reached out to pat and even give a firm sort of squeeze onto Ben’s back. “Come on, come on. We should get this thing back before it rots out.”

Ben’s fingers twiddled absentmindedly. “Yeah, yeah...” He couldn’t wipe away his smile; it was the first one he’d had in so, so long. “Today went... pretty well and all that... Y-Y'know. Forget what I said earlier. I’m glad you brought me here.” 

His words steadily became lower and quieter, as if they were more of a hum than speech. As much as he wanted to retreat to the motel’s room and roll around on the floor and feel happy forever, he also just wanted to stay. More than anything. Not go back to anyone, not go back to the motel. The feeling, whatever it was, tugged at his guts. It was prominent, but Ben actively had to fight off the urge to cry from happiness.

“I still gotta teach you how to shoot for real one of these days though, huh?” Lee started pulling the buck again, more or less nonchalantly carrying it at the same time. “Sooner we get this back, the better.”

“I mean, yeah! Like... Anytime. I wanna get better at... you know, everything.”

“Everything ever? Like getting hit by chairs?”

“No! Come on! Things like, um... being... more than a problem. Better than a problem.”

“I like problems.”

“Do not!”

“Do, since you’re one.”

Instead of following suit, Ben lingered behind for a few moments. Under his breath, he whispered something, but it got whisked off by the wind before Lee could catch a hold of it. After that, his lips were tightly primmed as he walked at the other’s heels. 

Ben had words. He had a lot of words he wanted to say, he had a lot of things he wanted to tell Lee and express, but everything was caught in his throat, and he was lost in his own mind... The woods felt darker than ever, but also more inviting than ever. There wasn’t a single walker in sight, and their flashlights didn’t provide any either. It felt _calm._ He couldn’t tell if it was because of Lee, or something else.

Suddenly, Lee’s voice came up again and tore him out of his thoughts. “That reminds me, I never finished my story from earlier. You know, about Lilly?” He let out a dry sort of chuckle. “Should I finish that?”

Without even a moment’s of hesitation, Ben joined in on the laugh, his voice complimenting Lee’s baritone. “I’m up for anything, Lee.”

Ben wasn't alone in the corner of the lot that night.


End file.
